1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a fluid treatment apparatus having interchangeable fluid treatment elements. More specifically, it relates to a filter housing that can be adapted to accommodate different filter elements within a housing unit, including accommodating both inside-out and outside-in flow filters in a single housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Filters for removing impurities from fluid are well known and are used in many applications. For example, fluid treatment arrangements may be used to remove particulate matter from oil or water. Typically, filter elements are utilized with a particular size, capacity and fixed number within a fluid treatment arrangement.
However, the prior art presents an inherent inflexibility on the part of the filtering system to adapt to different conditions. This may render the treatment system incapable of use for different applications. Also, many fluid treatment arrangements include multiple treatment elements. In many such applications where the number of treatment elements may be quite large the housing is very expensive, especially when fabricated from alloy materials.
Existing filter housings are incapable of adapting to changes in service conditions that may necessitate a change in the direction of fluid to be treated, or the like. Compounding this problem is an inability on the part of present housings to accommodate treatment elements with different flow characteristics from a variety of element manufacturers.